Come winter, Calcutta has a little spring in its step. A charming twinkle in its eye. This winter was no different. And with Kal Ho Na Ho becoming the mantra of veritably everyone in the city, the chant in the air was to polish the Blahniks and get ready to soak in the spirit. As pretty Preity Zinta would say, “It’s the time to disco”.

This was arguably Calcutta’s best-kept secret and finely-wrapped evening. From just before Christmas, Gary Lawyer held people enthralled with a live performance each evening at the venerable Chowringhee Bar. He neatly polished Neil Diamond, soared with The Eagles and pelvised with the Elvis. It was magical and the perfect way to bring in Christmas. Of course, it was a shame that the place was deserted. Wish more people knew what they were missing.

Equally magical was the Christmas lunch at Ranabir and Doel Sen’s home But this one was special. It was their last Christmas party at 3, Ballygunge Park, since they will soon move on to a new address. Somewhere along, we had a surprise. Usha Uthup, a good friend of the hosts, dropped in, beckoned by the balloons she saw bobbing outside. She was on her way back from an official commitment. Ever ready to set a microphone on fire, she volunteered an impromptu session.

The result was a humbling experience. Indeed, her passion for music and the desire to delight came through quite effortlessly, she sang with her soul and kept the entire party rapt. It was pure magic and what was wonderful was to witness her prodigious talent in a labour of love. It reminded me of one of my favourite quotes: A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer; it sings because it has a song. With music like this still happening, as they say, God must be in his heaven and something, if not all, still right with this world!

Now, if music is the food of love, a bit about the food too. There is no disputing that Calcutta has seen a flurry on the food scene. Honestly, there are more restaurants now than flyovers. While my spiffy vote on the matter goes to Pan-Asian and West View, man, or for that matter, woman, cannot live on Sonar Bangla alone.

Rub-a-dub-dhaba

For people outside Calcutta, the dhaba concept exists along the highway or dots some turbaned town. This is one city where, as my visiting friends never cease to point out, the dhaba exists comfortably within the home of puchkas and egg rolls.

I’ve been a committed patron of the dhaba scene while I was at college, sipping tea or digging into hot samosas outside AAEI or on Russell Street or even in Bhawanipur. It’s almost a rite of passage for moving into discerning adulthood. Friends who come back to the city always home back to the dhaba just for that andaa tarka. It’s a trip down nostalgia lane. I have memories of romancing over Bhawanipur chai, or tired, post-party sessions between 1 and 3 am, tucking into the AAEI dhaba’s tarka dal and roti, perched on the bonnet of the car.

Yet even now, after several grey hairs, we discovered the delights that lurk in the dhaba. The AAEI Dhaba continues to be the temple of tarka. I also noticed a distinct upgradation: there is an adjoining room that has humming air-conditioning. The service is top-rate as ever and the rotis continue to sizzle. Equally noteworthy is the Russell Street dhaba. Yet somehow I feel that its glory still lies in the mornings with its tea and samosas. The nights certainly belong to AAEI.

Just my cup of tea

Tea it seems, has become the new coffee. I am mighty impressed with the Camellia Tea Bars at Saturday Club, CC&FC and Forum. I think it is a fine concept with a great product mix. And what I loved most was its dhaba chai served in the elaborate kulhars. Full marks to Assam Tea Company for a steamy delightful nugget. I must concede that my favourite cappucino feels strangely threatened.

Little birdies

Now all food and no play makes Jill a silly girl. Mercifully, there was enough of golf. Arjun Atwal made Calcutta take a bow. While that was going on, a quiet little revolution was also underway amongst little golfers under the able baton of Indrajit Bhalotia and the Indian Golf Union.

Usha Uthup and Gary Lawyer — two performers who never fail to get Calcuttans swinging to their tunes and (below) Azad Hind Dhaba, a hotspot that continues to draw people by the droves

I didn’t think we’d come back to the IGU East Zone golf programme so soon since the results were not expected for a couple of years. But then, with some domino effects, the IGU training programme for juniors and amateurs to play at top national level tourneys deserves its due place in the sun.

The programme started in June 2003 and in a record few months, it has shown visible results. Take the instance of Manavi Halwasiya, who has notched up one of the lowest gross totals in India by a lady. The boys have done just as well. Divyanshu Bajaj won his first national tournament, the East India Junior, and is ranked fourth in the country. Karan Taunk from Jamshedpur, where the programme is also on, finished second in the All India Junior. What’s even more amazing, it’s the second tournament he’s ever played.

With the introduction of yoga and sports psychology, the young golfers can only get better. Calcutta has traditionally been the cradle of golf. This programme will ensure that tomorrow belongs to where yesterday’s and today’s golf is: Calcutta.

Dancing divas

It was one of the last cultural events for Calcutta in 2003. Friends who attended the Oxford Bookstore lec-dem by Pandit Chitresh Das and CDDC, his eponymous dance company from California, came back amazed. Chitresh Das is every bit a Kolkatar chheley, combining an education at Don Bosco with taalim from Pandit Ram Narayan Misra. He left the city of his parents and his childhood in 1970 on a fellowship.

The next year, he began a dance course in California. His school, Chhandam, has branches in San Francisco, Boston and Toronto and his group has performed at the Olympic Games. The results of these 30 years of chasing his dream were apparent on that rather small gallery as the dancers, most of them American professionals in careers other than dance, ranging from health care to playing the harp, danced what we call ‘our’ dance with amazing grace. While Pandit Das explained the therapeutic side of dance, they gave a performance that was brilliant. If all this makes you feel a little inspired, Pandit Das does have a centre in Calcutta called Nritya Bharati.

New Year’s heave

Age took us to The Waterside Café for dinner. Inquisitiveness drove us to BTP’s Matrix Overloaded. This was the biggest circus that circus master Ricky Dewan pulled off. He should be entrusted to now organise the Kumbh Mela.

It was a busy period in Calcutta. One bumped into forgotten friends. Connected over disconnected destinies. There were quiet evenings, riot evenings. Calcutta threw its hair back and put its feet up. Understandable. After all, Kal Ho Na Ho.